The aim of country partnership strategy (CPS), 2017-2021 is for ADB to assist Kazakhstan in achieving its medium-term development targets and fulfilling its global obligations under the Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) agenda.

ADB Vice-President Wencai Zhang reaffirms that ADB will continue to support the Government of Kazakhstan’s development agenda and is exploring new ways of engaging with the country, including public-private partnerships, blended finance, and other innovative financing approaches.

This country brief summarizes how the partnership of ADB and Kazakhstan has been instrumental to the development of the country. Since operations began in 1994, ADB has approved 19 loans totaling $1.7 billion for Kazakhstan.

In the early 1990s, Kazakhstan was transitioning from a centrally planned economy to one driven by market forces. ADB began supporting the Government of Kazakhstan in 1994, a few years after the country became independent, by providing much-needed assistance in agriculture, education, finance, and the delivery of social services.

Since the early 2000s, Kazakhstan has pursued economic diversification to avoid being stuck in the “middle-income trap.” It seeks to transform from a landlocked to a “landlinked” economy. To address these development needs, ADB cooperation with Kazakhstan in recent years has focused on the finance and transport sectors and on knowledge partnerships.

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